1 in 7 fathers take childcare lead

Adam Weedon-Luck of Norwich switched to a three-day working week when his second child was bornALBAN DONOHOE

One in seven fathers look after their young children more than their wife or partner does during the week, research reveals today.

The report from the insurer Aviva found these men are “taking on the role of the main childcare provider”, with the decision often made because the mother earns more than the father.

The research, based on more than 1,000 parents, comes as data from the Office for National Statistics show 1.1m men in the UK are choosing to work part-time and “do not want a full-time job”. Many are fathers working flexibly since the birth of their children.

The scale of the social change is extraordinary in a country in which fathers used to boast about never changing a nappy. The Aviva report…